


Summer Vacation

by LapisLazuli



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Because I said so that's why, Ficlets, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, I'm saving that for another fic, M/M, Nothing explicit here, San Diego, but only with the kissing, each chapter is one bingo prompt, prompts, sterek summer bingo 2016, the pack takes a vacation together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 11:17:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7265956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LapisLazuli/pseuds/LapisLazuli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic is actually a collection of ficlets each below 1000 words written for the Sterek Summer Bingo 2016 game on Tumblr.  Each fic is intended to function as a stand-alone one-shot if that's how you roll, but the set of them will tell a coherent story from beginning to end.  Chapter titles are the prompts.</p><p>Stiles and Derek finally get together during a pack summer vacation to San Diego.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sunburn Aftercare

“Wow, you’re red as a tomato.  I didn’t think werewolves could get sunburned, with the healing factor and all.”

Derek spun from where he was straining to see his own back in the bathroom mirror.  “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Came in for a soda,” Stiles answered, tossing a purple can in the air and then catching it.  “If you don’t want people to see you in here, you shouldn’t leave the door open.  Seriously, why isn’t it going away?”

“It’s not a severe enough injury to trigger healing, apparently,” Derek said, turning back to his reflection.  “Stings, though.”

“That’s what you get for never wearing a shirt.”  Stiles smirked when Derek glared at him through the mirror.  “Are you going to break one of your fingers or something to kick start the process?”

Derek’s glare deepened.  “No, I’m not a masochist, Stiles.  It’ll clear up on its own just fine.”

“Okay, dude, whatever you say.”  He grinned and tipped his head and then turned and left the house, heading out to the patio where Lydia was sitting by the side of the pool reading a book.  Stiles squinted at the cover as he sat in the lounge chair beside her.  It seemed to be in Latin.

She didn’t speak, so he didn’t either, and they sat in easy silence together as Scott and Isaac splashed each other in the pool.

After a little while, when Derek hadn’t come back out, Stiles started to get antsy.  There was no reason for him to be taking so long.  What was he doing in there?  He hadn’t left, had he?

Stiles glanced around, but no one was looking at him; Lydia immersed in her book, Scott and Isaac having a splash battle at the other end of the pool, Kira stretched out in the sun on her tummy with her earbuds in.

He got up, trying to look nonchalant.  He had only just straightened to a stand when Lydia looked up at him over the tops of her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow.  Stiles hesitated, shrugged, and then continued on his way back into the house.

“Derek?” He called as soon as he stepped through the door.  He was answered by a grunt, and hey, at least now he knew Derek was still here.  “What are you doing in here?” he asked, heading in the direction of the grunt to find Derek still standing in the hall bathroom with the door open.  He was holding a large bottle of neon green gel in one hand and his shoulders glistened wet and angry red.

“I’m just putting something on my sunburn,” Derek said, tone defensive as a grin slowly spread across Stiles’ face.

“Wow, man, I’m actually shocked that you know how to treat a sunburn.”

Derek rolled his eyes.  “I’ve gotten sunburned before, Stiles.”

“I know, I know, not actually raised by wolves,” Stiles grinned and swore he saw the corner of Derek’s mouth curl up just a tiny bit.  “You missed a whole big spot in the back, though.”

“What?  No I didn’t.”  Derek turned and stretched to see his own bare back in the mirror again.  Stiles let his eyes trip across the lines of Derek’s abdomen for the briefest moment before stepping forward and pointing.

“See, this big patch right here,” he said, indicating a large spot near the center of Derek’s back that was clearly not shiny with aloe vera gel.

“Huh.” Derek straightened and squeezed some more gel onto his palm.  He reached back to coat the spot, but his arm wouldn’t quite bend that far.  He tried anyway, turning in place a few steps as he strained.

“Oh for god’s sake, give it here,” Stiles said, stepping forward and swiping the bottle of gel from the counter.  He squirted some out, the bottle making an unpleasant farting sound as he did, and then moved to stand directly behind Derek.

He looked up over Derek’s shoulder and caught his gaze in the mirror.  Derek looked as serious as Stiles had ever seen him.

“Relax, I’ll be gentle,” he said with a grin.  Derek smiled back, almost, just a tiny twitch of his mouth.

Stiles smeared the gel across Derek’s back, mindful of his promise.  Derek hissed at the contact but leaned forward to brace his hands on the counter, bowing his spine and letting Stiles work the cool substance into his reddened skin.

Stiles worked slowly, trying to drag out the opportunity to touch Derek, his eyes on his hands as they rubbed across the planes of Derek’s back.  His skin was hot to the touch, almost feverish, but smooth and soft beneath Stiles’ palms as he stroked them down Derek’s spine.

Derek made a soft humming noise, startling Stiles out of his reverie.  He realized belatedly that he had finished, that Derek’s back was thoroughly covered in aloe vera gel, probably several times over by now, and let his hands fall away from Derek’s skin.  He looked up almost by accident, dragging his eyes from Derek’s back with difficulty, to find Derek staring at him in the mirror.  Derek was breathing just hard enough to be noticeable, his eyes steady but unreadable, and Stiles realized as Derek’s nostrils flared that his own heart was pounding in his chest.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Stiles managed to blink and step away.  He tried to grin, but it felt weird on his face.  “Okay, you should be all set now.  See you out there.”  He spun and strode out of the house without looking back, Derek silent behind him.

A few minutes later, Derek came outside wearing a white cotton t shirt that was visibly sticking to the wet patches of gel on his back and shoulders.  He took the chair in the shade on the opposite side of Lydia and pulled out a book without looking in Stiles’ direction.


	2. Day at the Zoo

A trip to the zoo was Scott’s idea, because of course it was.

Not that anyone objected, really.  Certainly Stiles was excited to check the place out.  The San Diego Zoo was world renowned, after all, and they hadn’t come all the way to San Diego just to spend all their time at the vacation rental house.

But there were certain downsides.  Specifically, the fact that the whole pack was up and admiring the flamingo enclosure just minutes after the zoo opened at 9 AM, thanks to a combination of Kira’s enthusiasm and Scott’s puppy eyes.  Honestly, who gets up that early on vacation?

Stiles shrugged his hoodie up around his ears and clutched his paper cup of drive-thru coffee close to his face.  San Diego was unexpectedly foggy and cool in the mornings during summer, it turned out.

Beside him, Kira was studying the zoo program she had been handed at the entrance.  She elbowed Scott and pointed to it.  “Look, they have a thing at the front stage at nine thirty where you can meet a Fennec fox!”

“Oh, I’ve seen those on Tumblr.  They’re adorable,” Isaac said, peering over Scott’s shoulder.  “We should go to that.”

Stiles glanced at Derek, who was frowning down at his own program.  “I think I kind of want to walk around some, look at a few animals.”

“Oh, okay,” Kira said, offering him an unnecessarily large grin.  “Do you mind if we go?”

“No, of course not.”

“Thanks, dude,” Scott said.  “How about you guys?”

Stiles turned to see Derek shake his head without looking up from the glossy paper in his hands.  Then Lydia and Scott made eye contact for a strangely long moment before Lydia shrugged.  “Fennec foxes are pretty cute.”

Before he could really think about the implications of that, the group headed off and then Stiles was alone.  With Derek.  For the first time since he had zoned out while greasing up Derek’s back last night.

Because he was thinking about it, Stiles immediately found himself blurting out, “So, how’s the sunburn?” before he realized he was talking.  Crap.

Derek looked up from the program, narrowing his eyes.  “Better.”

“Yeah?  Good.”  Stiles stepped closer, nudged Derek with his elbow.  “I hope you put on sunscreen today.  You know you can get sunburned even when it’s cloudy, right?”

Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles saw his mouth curl before he turned away, and just like that things weren’t awkward anymore.

They walked through the zoo, choosing paths at random, admiring whatever animals they came across.  They smiled at the monkeys swinging around their trees, marveled at the sheer size of the bald eagles, stood in line to feed the giraffes.  Stiles made faces at them, laughing as the giraffes stretched out their long purple tongues to take the lettuce and leaves, and pretended not to see Derek’s snicker.  At the wolf enclosure, Stiles tried to get Derek to growl to the wolves, but he refused.  Stiles called him Sourwolf and they both grinned.  In the Insect House, Derek tickled the back of Stiles’ neck while he was looking at the scorpions and laughed out loud when he jumped and slapped at the spot.

Around noon, they met back up with the rest of the group, who were all gushing over the adorable Fennec fox and all the large cats they had seen.  They all got hot dogs from a cart (except for Lydia, who walked around until she found a place that served salad) and found a picnic table in the shade to enjoy their lunch before going to look at the rest of the animals.

The day had turned hot once the morning fog burned off, and Derek disappeared for a few minutes as they were eating, returning holding little cups of frozen lemonade for everyone and wearing a shy smile.  Stiles took his with a grin, bumping Derek with his elbow in lieu of thanks.  He caught Derek watching him later, as he lapped the sweet-tart treat from the little wooden spoon that came with it, and blushed without meaning to.

After lunch, the whole pack stayed together, heading up to the far side of the zoo to check out the cold animal enclosure and then meandering back through the Asian animal region to see the pandas.  By the time they got back toward the front gate, everyone but Scott was tired and ready to go home.

On the way out, Stiles excused himself to make a quick stop at the bathroom.  He was just coming back when his eye was caught by a display in the gift shop window.  He glanced around, but none of the pack were in sight, so he slipped inside and made a quick purchase, tucking the object into his hoodie before rejoining the group.

When they arrived back at the vacation rental, everyone decided to head out back to relax poolside.  Stiles hung back, claiming he wanted to change his clothes.  Once everyone else had gone outside, he snuck into Derek’s room and placed the little stuffed giraffe he had bought right in the center of Derek’s bed, smiling to himself as he did.  Then he changed and went to join the others outside.

The rest of the evening passed in a delightful blur of barbecued hamburgers, arguments over whose turn it was to pick the music, and a rousing game of Cards Against Humanity that introduced Stiles to a whole side of Isaac’s sense of humor that he had never suspected.

When Stiles finally stumbled into his room at the end of the evening, eyelids heavy and steps dragging, he found a little plush wolf sitting neatly on his pillow.  He grinned at it, immediately filled with warmth and happiness.

That night Stiles fell asleep with a smile on his face, clutching the wolf plushie to his chest, and slept soundly for the first time in months.


End file.
